Home for the Holidays, a Higher Ground story
by Roses-N-Runways
Summary: Scott at home with his dad Martin and stepmom Elaine.
1. Chapter 1: Coming Home

Home for the Holidays

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I'm not sure where this would fit in chronologically with the series, like before or after which episode. It's just something I felt like writing. I didn't really think about making it fit into a certain timeline.

Also, I have another HG story but this has nothing to do with that one, they are totally separate and their stories don't exist together lol.

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Scott was nervous. He was going home for Christmas, at the request of his dad. His dad had said that as long as Scott behaved, he could spend a week at home for the holidays before going back to Horizon. Scott wanted to go, in spite of everything, he missed his dad. He was hoping that maybe they could set aside their issues and the holiday, at least, would feel like the old days. As long as Elaine kept out of things, Scott thought, he'd be fine. He just wanted a Christmas with his dad like he used to have.

When his dad and Elaine arrived at Horizon to pick him up that evening, his dad hugged him tight and said, "I've missed you, son" and Scott grinned and hugged him back. Elaine smiled at him, but hung back and didn't say anything, just let the father and son have their moment.

Martin was optimistic about the visit; Peter had told him that Scott's behavior had improved since coming to Horizon. Maybe Horizon had cured Scott of his teenage rebellion, and Martin would have his old son back.

"Ready to go, son?" Martin asked. "I want to get home before dark."

Scott nodded, and turned to shake hands with Peter. "Have a good visit, Scott," Peter told him, smiling. But he looked deep in Scott's eyes and said, "You have my number if you need anything," Scott nodded.

Scott hadn't told anyone at Horizon about his problem, but Peter could tell that something had happened at home that had caused Scott's behavior. But with everyone wanting this visit, even Scott himself, and with everyone so optimistic, Peter had decided it would be okay to give it a try. After he decided to allow the visit, he had called Scott into his office for a long talk, and then had given Scott his business card to make sure the boy had someone to help him if any issues arose. Scott had tucked away the business card in his pocket just in case.

Martin helped Scott get his things in the car, slammed the trunk, and opened the passenger side door for Elaine to get in. Scott slid into the back seat.

There wasn't too much talking on the way home, a little chit chat about Scott's schoolwork and Martin's job, but mostly they just played Christmas songs on the radio. It wasn't an angry silence, like they used to have during drives, it was different now. It began as an awkward silence, but after they talked a little, then decided to put on music, it became a pleasant silence, listening to carols together in the car on the long drive home.

Once home, they went into the house and Scott took his things upstairs to unpack. Martin and Elaine went into the living room. They had decorated most of the house yesterday, and now it was really beautiful. The only things left to do were hang stockings up over the chimney, put the last of the ornaments on the tree, and stick the star on top. But they'd wait till Christmas Eve to do those things. For now, Martin began building a fire in the fireplace and Elaine went in the kitchen to put some easy slice-and-bake cookies in the oven. She had tried to make cookies the old fashioned way the day before, with disastrous results, but Martin only thought it was "cute" and so he just went out and bought her a bunch of packages of slice and bake cookies.

When Scott walked into his room, he stopped in his tracks and dropped his bag. His room was different. Not drastically, but things had been changed. The furniture was rearranged; his bed was in a different place. There was a new blue bedspread on his bed, and there was a flat screen TV in his room. Someone had put up a big shelf above the desk, and arranged on the shelf were all his sports trophies, which had been dusted and polished. There were also pictures in new frames around his room, and he went around looking at them. Some were from when he was a baby. Some were of him and his mom, some were from football games, and there were a few of his dad with him. When he found one of him and Elaine, he stared at it for a moment. Taken before all this trouble started, they were both smiling in the photograph. It even looked like they had been laughing together. Elaine had her arm around him in the photo. Scott put down the picture frame and turned it face-down on the desk.

He picked up his bag again and dumped it out onto his bed. He put away his things and then went back downstairs.

Martin smiled at him when he came down. "Hey, Scott, did you find your new TV?"

Scott smiled, "Yeah thanks…shouldn't that be, you know, under the tree?"

Martin shrugged, "You've got plenty of other stuff to open on Christmas…this way you can enjoy that all week."

"Thanks, dad," Scott said.

"Okay, the cookies are done," Elaine said. "Who wants cocoa?"

Elaine brought a tray out to the living room of hot chocolate and cookies. "We thought we could watch a movie or something tonight, unless you're too tired and want to go to bed?"

Scott looked at her. "Um…no, we can. I guess."

"Okay," Martin said, "You can pick."

Scott looked until he found "National Lampoons", which he hadn't seen in forever but he remembered that when he was little, they'd watched it every Christmas and laughed and laughed. So he thought it might be nice to see it again.

Martin sat down on the couch. Elaine sat next to him, holding his hand. But then she said, "Come on, sit down here Scott." She patted the couch cushion next to her.

Scott stood still for a second, then said, "I'll sit over here…" He started pulling pillows and blankets off the recliner in the corner which was far away from them.

"Scott, don't be silly…there's stuff all piled up on that old thing…just sit with us, it'll be cozy." Elaine coaxed.

Martin said, "Scott, would you just sit down already, the movie's starting."

Scott put the blanket he had picked off the recliner tightly around himself and sat down on the couch with them, as far away as possible, looking rigid.

Elaine laughed in her girlish voice. "Scott, you don't look at all comfortable. Come over here," and she pulled him close, he sort of got yanked backward. Now his head was resting on her hip. Scott panicked and couldn't breathe. He struggled to get up, but the blanket he had wrapped himself in now felt like a straightjacket. "Scott, quit moving around, the movie's on now," Elaine said, running her fingers through his hair.

Scott shut his eyes. He could hear the movie, but he couldn't seem to understand any of the lines the actors were saying. He was about to push free from Elaine when his father's voice cut though, saying, "Isn't this nice, our family all together? I'm glad you're home with us, Scott, I hope we'll have a good week." So Scott just nodded and said "Me too," in a tiny voice. For his father's sake, he wouldn't cause problems.

He tried to focus on the movie even though he was being cradled by Elaine. She wasn't doing anything wrong to him, she was just holding him wrapped up in his blanket while they watched the movie. Scott realized that if she had never abused him, then the way she was holding him right now would just have felt motherly to him and nothing more. But she _had_ abused him, so now, he couldn't trust anything she did, no matter how innocent it felt.

When the movie was finally over, after what felt like the longest two hours of his life, he struggled free and said, "I'm gonna go to bed,"

"Ok honey," Elaine said, collecting the dishes. Martin hugged him again, which was weird to Scott, who wasn't used to his dad being so…nice. "Goodnight, son," he said

Scott showered before bed and then went into his room and put on some sweatpants and a t-shirt. He used to sleep in boxers, but that was before. Now he felt the need to cover up. He was nervous to go to bed, nervous that she might come in, but he was exhausted from the brief interactions with his parents. He was surprised at how strange it felt to talk to them, almost like they were strangers and he had to get to know them all over again. He got in bed and pulled the bedspread up around him, snuggling deep down into the covers. He left his desk lamp on, he hated being in the dark now. Every time it was dark, images came into his mind. That was why he sometimes couldn't sleep- you could leave a light on in your room, but you couldn't do anything about the darkness that came over you when you closed your eyes.

He was woken up a couple of hours later by Elaine coming into his room. _"Oh, God, not again," _Scott thought. He pretended to be asleep. Except that he could see the clock next to his bed, and it was only midnight. That didn't make any sense. His dad would only have just gone to bed…was she not even going to wait till his dad fell asleep??

Elaine leaned over and faced the wall, fiddling with something. Then she walked over to his desk and turned off the lamp…the room still had a glow. Scott peeked out and saw the reason why. She had plugged a nightlight into the outlet on the wall.

"Elaine?" He asked, his voice sounding hollow.

She turned and faced him. She had obviously thought he was asleep. "Hmm?" She breathed.

"I'm not a baby. I don't need a nightlight."

"You don't want your desk lamp on either, then?"

Scott was silent.

Elaine said, "That's what I thought. I don't want your desk lamp on all night. It's too bright. The light seeps out into our room and your father doesn't sleep as well with all that light."

"Ok," Scott whispered. When was she going to get out? He didn't care about the light any more, he just wanted her to leave.

But instead she came over and sat on the side of his bed. "I could tell tonight that you were trying to be nice for your father's sake, and I appreciate it."

Scott nodded without saying anything.

Elaine asked, "But are you mad that I moved your furniture?"

"You did? I thought my dad moved it."

"Why?"

"Because he's the one who put the TV in."

"No, I moved the furniture. I thought…well, I didn't know how well you would sleep in this room, and I…I thought it might be easier for you to sleep here…if it wasn't the same as it was when… I mean…"

"…Yeah." Scott responded. He kind of understood. His furniture had always been in the same places, and now that it was different, it made him feel a little disoriented. But at the same time, it seemed to help him sleep, because with the furniture all changed around, he could almost imagine it wasn't the same room he used to sleep in.

"Scott?"

"Hmm?"

"Goodnight." Elaine leaned down and kissed him, but just on the forehead.

Scott let her, but he didn't respond to the kiss at all and he didn't say anything to her as she left.

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	2. Chapter 2: Unexpected News

Home for the Holidays- Chpt 2

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Thank you Ghostwriter and SVCrystalGreen 

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The next day Scott got up feeling a little tired, since he hadn't slept all that well the night before. It was about six in the morning, but he couldn't sleep any longer after being so used to getting up so early back at Horizon. He got dressed right away and went downstairs. His parents were still asleep, but he was hungry and didn't feel like having cold cereal, so he decided to make a big hot breakfast for himself. He got out the eggs, and some bacon out of the freezer, and bread from the breadbox. A while later he had fried eggs, crispy bacon and French toast to eat. He sat down at the table.

He heard noise while he was eating and thought maybe his dad had gotten up, but it was Elaine. Elaine came into the kitchen, barefoot and dressed in a short and skimpy negligee with a short see-through robe over it. Scott looked away from her.

"Hi," she said. She sat down at the table across from him. She looked tired. Scott sort of nodded at her and kept eating, looking down at his plate. It sort of embarrassed him when she dressed that way, but he was also afraid to look at her when she was dressed that way because he didn't want her to think he was trying to look at her body or anything like that.

Elaine looked at his food. "That's nice of you to make breakfast." She paused, and he just sort of nodded again. Then she asked, "Aren't you going to offer me any?"

He sighed and looked at her, "Do you want some breakfast?"

She laughed softly and looked down. "Not really."

"Then why'd you ask?" Scott muttered, shoveling in some fried eggs.

"Well, I thought it sounded good, but…" Elaine jumped up and ran, covering her mouth.

Scott just stared at her. He thought she looked sick, but he didn't care, and he went back to eating.

A few minutes later she came back, looking down. She rubbed her arms as if she was cold.

"Well, hopefully that will be all for today." She said. "I've been getting up early so I won't disturb your father when I get like that."

"Mhh-hmm," Scott mumbled, eating and still not looking at her. This was leading up to something, but he didn't know what, and he didn't want to hear it, whatever it was.

"I hope it'll stop soon, but I don't know. At least it's just in the mornings."

Elaine sensed he was trying to shut her out, and so she finally got around to it. "Scott," she said gently, "I'm pregnant."

Scott finally looked up at her. He put his fork down. He didn't say anything for a long time. Then he picked his fork back up. "So?" he finally said.

Elaine gaped at him.

"I've been at Horizon for what, five, six weeks? And I've spent the whole time trying to forget about you. So whatever's going on in your life has nothing to do with me."

Elaine sighed and rubbed her temples. "Okay. Okay. Fair enough."

She pushed away from the table and stood up to leave the room.

Then she turned back. "Just don't say anything about it, though. I haven't told your father yet."

Scott whipped his head up to look at her. "You haven't _told_ him yet? When did you find out?"

"A couple weeks ago." She came back and sat down again across from him.

"That's kind of a long time to go without telling him, don't you think?" Scott asked tersely.

Then he asked, "How…um, how pregnant are you?"

"About two months along."

"Well why didn't you find out sooner?" Scott asked, his mind reeling.

"Because…I just, I don't know, I guess I just didn't want to face it yet. I figured as long as I wasn't sure, then it wasn't really happening. " She said. She looked almost scared. Then she went on, "But, well, it's been a while, and I have to face it now."

"Why are you telling me and not my dad?" Scott wanted to know.

Elaine shrugged. "I can talk to you better."

Scott laughed in a sarcastic way. "Well I guess that's what happens when your stepson is closer to your age than your husband is."

Elaine didn't laugh. "That's not the only reason I told you and not him. I think we have to be aware of the possibility that this isn't Martin's baby."

Scott looked at her, a lump in his throat. "What do you mean?" he asked. He knew in the back of his mind what she meant, but he couldn't allow himself to accept it.

Elaine reached out for his hand. He didn't pull away. He let her hold his hand, but he barely felt her touch. He felt like he was having some sort of out-of-body experience.

Elaine went on, "I must have conceived just a couple weeks before you went away to Mount Horizon. That allows time for-"

"No," Scott shook his head, coming into himself, and pulling away from her touch. "No, you married my dad, he's your husband, this has to be his baby, it has to be, it can't be mine-"

"Well that would be easy, wouldn't it? I wish it worked that way." Elaine said softly. "But we don't know for sure."

Scott's face crumpled. He knew that, he knew she was right, and he hated it. "But- what are you going to tell my dad?"

"Well, I don't know yet. Nothing, I guess. I mean, I could have an abortion."

Scott stared at her.

"Look, Scott, if-" she lowered her voice, "if it is yours, then this baby is _proof_. Do you understand that? Your dad would never get over this."

Scott nodded slowly.

"And I figure my other option is to just go on and not act any differently about it…it's a risk, but only a slight one…you're your dad's son, after all…it's not like it would be very obvious that the baby's not his. So we'll let the baby be his and hopefully no one will find out anything. And I'll expect you to treat the baby as your brother or sister."

Scott put his head in his hands. "God, this is so screwed up."

"Scott, I don't know for sure…it's just that the date worked out that…"

"Yeah, I know." Scott didn't look up again.

They were both quiet a minute, then Scott said, "This isn't what I wanted for Christmas."

Elaine shook her head. "I know. Me either."

They sat there, until Elaine felt sick again and decided to go lay down again until Martin got up.

Scott sat at the table, letting the rest of his breakfast get cold. Once he heard his dad getting up upstairs, he wiped his eyes, stood up, and dumped the rest of his food down the garbage disposal.


	3. Chapter 3: The Arrival

A little later that day, after everyone was up and dressed, Martin said, "Scott, Elaine and I have invited Uncle Mike, Aunt Sharon, and David to come over. Now I know I told you I'd gotten some vacation time, but they're a mess over there without me, so I'm going to have to go in to work for a few hours and help straighten things out. Could you help Elaine get the house ready for company?"

"Um…sure. Why are they coming?" Scott asked.

Martin looked surprised. "Scott, he's my little brother, he always visits around Thanksgiving and Christmas, what's the big deal?"

Scott shrugged. "Nothing, sure, I'll help."

Martin smiled. "Good," he said, "Okay, you two, try not to have too much fun without me."

He left for work.

Elaine smiled at Scott.

Scott said, "He told you not to have fun without him. There you go." He left the room.

Elaine came after him.

"No, seriously, Scott, I wasn't thinking anything like that- we really do need to get the house ready. They're coming in just a few hours. I've never had them over before and I want everything perfect. Can you do some cleaning? At least upstairs? I'll take care of everything down here."

"Yeah, fine," Scott said, and got started.

Several hours later, the house was perfect and Uncle Mike, Aunt Sharon, and cousin David were pulling up in the driveway. Scott watched them get out of the car from his upstairs window. Uncle Mike looked a little heavier than he had last year, Aunt Sharon looked pretty much the same but Scott could tell she was now dyeing her hair, and David looked like he'd had a growth spurt or something. He wasn't a scrawny little kid like last year, he looked more his age, which was 14.

Scott came down the stairs. Elaine was standing nervously in the front hall watching them get out of their car.

"How do I look?" she asked Scott when she saw him come up behind her.

"Fine," he said, not even looking. His true answer would always be, "You look disgusting," but of course he couldn't say that to her.

"I didn't know their kid was that old…from the pictures they've sent us all year, I thought he was a lot younger."

Scott started to nod, but then eyed her.

He was about to say something to her when she swooped open the door in a grand gesture and said, "Come on in, we're so glad to see you, aren't we Scott?"

"Hi," Scott said lamely.

"Scott!" Aunt Sharon cried, and hugged him. "Oh, you just get taller and handsomer every time I see you! Mike, isn't he just the cutest thing?"

Scott blushed. Uncle Mike hugged him too, saying, "We've missed coming to your games. That was one of the bad parts about us moving last year."

"Yeah, I miss you guys," Scott said, relaxing into a smile. He stopped feeling so stressed. Maybe it would be nice having his aunt and uncle and cousin around for a while. He had missed them.

Aunt Sharon was now hugging Elaine. "Oh, it's so good to see you, we never have really talked much, and I'm looking forward to us getting more acquainted."

"Hey, man," Scott said to David. "I barely recognized you."

"Yeah, I'm finally not the shortest kid in my class." David said, smiling.

"Maybe he'll be a great football player, like you," Uncle Mike grinned.

David shook his head. "I doubt it." He smiled. He looked a lot like Scott when he smiled.

"Well, please, come in," Elaine said. "You must be tired from your drive." She put her hand on David's shoulder.

"Scott, would you go out and get their luggage, please?" she asked.

Scott stared at Elaine's hand on his cousin's shoulder. "They're staying overnight?" he asked.

Elaine's smile looked strained. "Of course. Why would they drive all this way and then leave? Of course they're staying overnight. Now would you please start getting their luggage?"

"I'll help, Scott." David moved away from Elaine and followed Scott outside. They started unloading the few suitcases from the trunk.

Once Elaine had shut the front door, David let out a whistle. "Dude, your mom's hot," he said.

Scott, suddenly full of rage, shoved David out of the way and started stomping back to the house.

"Scott, I'm sorry, ok? Forget it." David shook his head. He wanted his older cousin to like him. He was upset he'd just made him angry.

Scott took a deep breath and came back. "Look, first of all, she's not my mom and you know it."

David nodded, "I know. But your real mom's, like, gone, isn't she? My dad said Uncle Martin told him on the phone that your mom just kind of left."

Scott was mad. "She only left because she thought my dad was having an affair."

"Was he?" David wanted to know.

Scott shook his head, "I don't know, I don't know. But they both did stuff, ok? So don't just act like my mom doesn't exist. Yeah, she kinda bailed on us for a while. But she's still my mom."

"Sorry, man." David said.

"Okay, fine, whatever."

"But your stepmom's still hot." David laughed.

Then Scott shoved him. David shoved back. Pretty soon they were fighting on the ground. Nobody really got hurt, but Elaine happened to see them out of the window and screamed, "Oh my god! Boys, boys! Stop that right this instant!" She yelled and came marching outside. One of their neighbors was standing on a porch across the street watching. David's parents came running out too, and the three adults yanked the two boys apart.

"Oh, my god, I am so, so sorry. I don't know how this happened." Elaine looked mortified. "Lets' get inside, where no one will see us."

She dragged Scott inside, and David's parents led him inside too.

In the living room, they stood on opposite sides, Scott with Elaine behind him, holding him, and David standing between his parents, looking ashamed.

"Boys, what happened out there?" Uncle Mike asked.

"Nothing," Scott said, looking at the ground.

David didn't want to be a crybaby or a tattletale if Scott wasn't going to talk, so he decided not to tell either. "Nothing," he repeated.

Elaine looked apologetically at the family standing in front of her. "I am so terribly sorry about this. You know Scott's on break from the special school we sent him to. It's supposed to be helping his anger problems, but…well, he's a work in progress. I had hoped-" she gave Scott a hard look "-that Scott would behave himself, but he seems to be having trouble with that. I wouldn't blame you if you decided you didn't want to stay with us. I hope you will, and we can promise you this won't happen again. Scott?"

"I promise," Scott repeated dully.

"Right. Please, will you stay?"

"Of course," Aunt Sharon looked flustered. She straightened her son's shirt collar and smoothed down his hair. "Of course we'll stay. We'll, uh, we'll just make sure the boys are…supervised if they're going to act this way, that's all."

"I won't do anything else," Scott said, getting mad that his aunt didn't trust him anymore.

"Scott, why don't you just go to your room. I'll deal with you later." Elaine sighed.

"Fine," Scott said, and doubled up the stairs.

Elaine looked helplessly around the room. This was not at all the way she wanted her first visit with the relatives to start.

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	4. Chapter 4: Safety in Numbers

A while later there was a knock at Scott's door. Elaine poked her head in.

"Scott," she said, "Can I come in?"

"If I said no, would that stop you?"

Elaine came in and shut the door behind her.

She sat on his bed. He moved away from her.

"Scott, what was that all about? You know you can't act that way."

"Nothing," Scott said. "He just made me mad."

There was no way Scott was going to tell her David said she was hot. To Elaine, that would be an invitation.

"Scott, we can't have the relatives and neighbors thinking you're some kind of delinquent. It's just too embarrassing." She wiped some hair away from her forehead.

"Sorry," Scott said sarcastically.

"So, you can come downstairs now, but I want you to apologize to your Uncle Mike and Aunt Sharon-"

"Why?" Scott asked, "David's the one I hit!"

"You'll apologize, and you'll do it nicely. Then you need to try to make friends with David again. Am I making myself clear?"

Scott muttered, "For someone who might be a father, I sure am getting talked down to."

Elaine's eyes widened and she hissed, "Scott, don't talk about that. There are people in the house. We can talk about that when nobody's around. Now, just do what I say and everything will be fine."

"For you." Scott said, getting mad again. "I always have to do what you say and sure everything is fine for you ,but what does it get me?"

Elaine crossed her arms. "Don't be a baby."

"I thought you said we couldn't talk about babies." Scott laughed. Then he said, "Fine, whatever, I'll make friends again with David. I was never really mad at him in the first place. Just stay away from him, okay?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Elaine said, examining her fingernails.

Scott ignored her and went downstairs, where he apologized to his aunt and uncle like he was being made to, and his aunt hugged him and said it was all right as long as nobody got hurt and it didn't happen again.

"Your dad said you'd been having a hard time, but Scott, we love you okay?" Aunt Sharon said.

"Yeah, I know," Scott ducked his head, embarrassed.

"Look, kid, I'm sorry, ok? I shouldn't have done that. Are we cool?"

"Yeah, sure," David said, trying to sound like a big guy about it.

Elaine came downstairs and looked at Scott. "Scott, do you have something to say?"

"Scott already apologized," Uncle Mike said, "It's fine, let's not worry about it anymore."

"Oh, good," Elaine looked relieved. "Well, Martin should be home for dinner soon. I'll just get the finishing touches done on dinner, if you'll excuse me."

"Let me help, I love cooking," said Aunt Sharon, and she got up to follow Elaine.

Uncle Mike offered to go out and throw the football with the boys, who did, and a short while later Martin got home.

Elaine decided that as long as everyone seemed okay with what had happened earlier, there was no reason to let it spoil the evening by telling Martin about it and having him get all mad at Scott. So she kept quiet about it and dinner went smoothly. She could tell Scott was trying to be good now, which was a relief. He was extra polite to his aunt and uncle once dinner got started.

When it was time to go to bed that night, Martin and Elaine showed Mike and Sharon the guest bedroom. They just had the one guest bedroom, but Elaine had set up a cot in Martin's study and offered David Scott's bedroom, saying Scott wouldn't mind sleeping in the study while they were there.

"Oh, we couldn't have Scott kicked out of his room," Aunt Sharon politely refused. "The boys seem to have made up since their little scuffle this afternoon, why don't we just have them share? We can move the cot to Scott's room. David, you won't mind sleeping on a cot in Scott's room, will you?"

"No," said David, "That's cool."

"Well…" Elaine tried to figure out a way to refuse.

Scott spoke up, afraid of where she was headed. "That sounds like a great idea. I don't mind sharing my room at all, it will be fun to have my little cuz over. But David, you can take the bed, I don't mind having the cot. It's the polite thing to do." He smiled at Elaine, victorious.

Aunt Sharon and Uncle Mike said, "Well, ok, that settles that, then."

Elaine didn't look happy. Scott didn't know if Elaine wanted them separated because she wanted to get at him in the den or if she wanted David alone in Scott's bedroom. But he wasn't taking any chances, for either of them. There was safety in numbers.


	5. Chapter 5: Run

Home for the Holidays Chapter 5

AUTHORS NOTES: There is a Bible passage in here, just to warn you. Not to be preachy but I thought it added to the story, so I wanted to pop it in. Hope you don't mind.

Chapter 5: Run

That first night the relatives were there, Scott lie awake on his cot for three hours listening to the sound of his cousin's steady breathing. The younger boy had fallen asleep almost instantly, and now Scott watched his face- so youthful, so innocent. David still had some of that childish roundness to his face.

Finally, sick of staring at someone who achieved a level of peace that he never could, Scott rolled back and stared at the ceiling. He was pretty sure Elaine wouldn't come in, with the two of them in there together. But it didn't matter. Even when she wasn't there, she was still _there_. He was never safe.

He didn't know what time he finally fell asleep, but he hadn't been asleep long when he was awoken by David. It was not morning. "Scott, man, wake up!" the younger boy was saying, sounding frightened.

"Wha- what?" Scott asked sleepily, sitting up.

"You were having a nightmare, I think. It sounded pretty bad."

Scott shook himself off. "Nah, I'm fine. Sorry if I woke you up."

David was looking at Scott as if he were frightened of him.

"What?" Scott asked. The way David was looking at him made Scott feel like some kind of monster.

David spoke carefully. "Nothing. You…um…you just….said some weird things in your dream."

David lay down and faced the opposite way from Scott.

Scott could ask, "Like what?" and he probably should have. But he really didn't want to know what he had said in his dream. He didn't remember the dream, and he didn't want to. Nightmares were a constant; not remembering them was a rare blessing.

"You said something about sex." David said, the word coming out awkwardly.

"Oh. One of those kinds of dreams." Scott laughed, hoping David would let it go.

"No, it wasn't like that. It was different. It sounded…it was...weird." David didn't know how to say it, so that was all he said.

"Oh." Scott said, not encouraging the conversation to continue. He too, turned the opposite way from David.

"Hey, man…did something happen?" David asked tentatively after a few minutes.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, his voice sounding unnaturally high.

"I don't know. Something bad. At that camp place you go." David actually sounded worried about him.

"No, it's not like that. Everything's fine. It was just a dream. Don't worry about it."

David went back to sleep soon after, but Scott lay awake most of the night.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Scott was divided between wanting more time with his cousin and wanting him to leave so that he wouldn't ask any more questions.

Scott hated secrets.

He sadly watched as his relatives got into their car to leave after their stay. He waved as they went down the road, then he turned from the window.

"I'm going upstairs," he said listlessly.

"No, you're not. I need your help in the kitchen." Elaine commanded.

"Get dad to help you," Scott said, heading for the stairs. _Dad should be the one doing a lot of things I've been doing for you. _

"You father spends his days working hard at his job so he can make money to provide for you and send you away to a special school. I think he's done quite enough. So it wouldn't kill you to lift a finger to help out around here." Elaine sounded angry.

Martin looked surprised at Elaine's harsh tons and words. _But of course he sided with her_, Scott thought.

"Elaine's right, Scott. Just because you're home on vacation doesn't mean you have a free pass to be lazy. If she tells you to do something, I expect you to do it. And don't complain."

Scott rolled his eyes. "Fine."

He followed her into the kitchen. He stood in the middle of the kitchen and waited for her to tell him what he had to do.

She pointed at the dished from the night before and told him to rinse them off and put them in the dishwasher, and she would start on the pots and pans.

Scott started before she did, and after he'd plopped a couple plates in the dishwasher, Elaine came up behind him and lid her arms around his waist, hugging him from behind.

Scott visibly stiffened at her touch. "Get away from me, my dad's right out there," he whispered.

Martin was only a few feet away in the family room. Scott could hear him clear his throat as he turned a page of the newspaper. It made Scott's throat close with panic.

Elaine laughed softly. She leaned up and whispered, "I know, doesn't that make it exciting?"

Scott pulled away from her, flinging dishwater across the floor.

He ran out of the kitchen and out of the front door and out into the street. He just kept running. He ran down the street and onto another street and another until he'd gotten several blocks away from home. He didn't have his coat on, and he was freezing even though he was sweating.

He stopped and looked wildly around. He knew where he was, but now what was he supposed to do? He didn't want to go home. But he was cold. He couldn't call Peter; he didn't have his phone on him. Besides, he would have to wait somewhere warm until Peter could get to him.

He started walking down the street, with no direction in mind, the cold wind blowing in his face. After a few minutes his father's car pulled along slowly beside him. Scott kept walking for a few feet, and the car inched along beside him.

Then Scott stopped, and the car stopped too. Martin put the window down and said, not unkindly, "Get in the car, son,"

Scott did, and stared down at the seat, avoiding his father's eyes. But Martin wasn't looking at him, either. He was just staring out at the road, with his hands on the wheel.

"Elaine told me what happened in the kitchen." Martin said.

"She did?" Scott asked, scared.

"Yeah. She said you tried to give her a hug, and that she was so surprised about it that she kind of…well, 'freaked out' is how she put it."

Scott normally would have rolled his eyes at the thought of his father marrying someone young enough to use the phrase 'freaked out', but Elaine's lie caught him by surprise. He was used to her lying, of course, but her lies had always been designed to get him in trouble. Unless there was some hidden catch he wasn't seeing, this lie didn't seem like it could get him in trouble.

"Anyway she wanted you to know she's sorry, and she didn't mean to make you feel bad." Martin smiled at his son. "That's real nice, Scott. You don't know what it did for me to hear that you tried to hug her. I mean, it really gave me hope that things are working out for you after all. You know all I want is for the two of you to get along."

Scott nodded, turning to look out the window as they began to drive back home. So his dad was happy. There were three people in Scott's home, and it seemed that only one or two of them could be happy at once. They couldn't all be happy at the same time.

When they got back to the house, Elaine was waiting anxiously. She threw herself at Scott the second he walked through the door. She hugged him hard, and with Martin watching, Scott felt like he was forced to hug her back.

"Baby, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Elaine said, pulling away and cupping his face in her hands.

"I'm fine," he said curtly, not looking directly into her false expression of concern.

She reached up to hug him again, and this time she whispered in his ear a quiet threat. "Be _good_."

The "or else" was implied.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Once Scott was back in the kitchen with Elaine doing the dishes again, she turned to him and explained, "I said what I had to say to cover up for you. But I won't make a habit of it."

"Why? I always have to tell lies for you," Scott countered.

"That's different."

"How is that different-" Scott began, angry, but Elaine interrupted him.

"There are times we have to lie to keep your father happy. That's just the way it works."

Then she continued, "I need to talk to you about something. I've decided to tell your father about the baby tonight."

"It's about damn time," Scott muttered.

"Watch your language," Elaine said, then moved on.

"Basically, I'm going to tell him tonight, and then we'll probably tell you together tomorrow or something and I'm going to need for you to act surprised. Or, at least act like you didn't know anything about it."

"So…tonight, you want me to keep myself out of the way?" Scott asked.

"Yes. But don't make it obvious that I told you to keep away." Elaine instructed.

Scott felt a stab of annoyance, but didn't argue with her. Why bother? She would get her way. Elaine always got her way.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

That night, Scott ate dinner in his room. Elaine hadn't told him to go that far, but he decided he didn't want to eat with them anyway.

He asked if he could just go eat in his room and watch his new t.v. by himself, and at the very same time as each other, Martin said "no" and Elaine said "yes". They stared at each other for a second, and then Elaine smiled at Martin, and Martin said, "Sure, Scott, that's fine if you want to."

_If we lived in medieval times, they could arrest her for witchcraft,_ Scott thought bitterly as he took his plate upstairs.

Scott stayed upstairs the rest of the night, not even bringing his plate back downstairs or saying goodnight to his parents.

He flipped through all the channels on his t.v., and noticed disparagingly that his father had blocked out a few with the parental controls. Scott thought dryly, _What does he think he's going to prevent me from seeing that I haven't already seen?_

After a while he got restless and bored, and finally he turned off the t.v. and lay down on his bed. He couldn't get his mind to shut down. He began looking at his bookshelf, just to find something to do. His eyes rested upon his Bible. His family was not particularly religious, but when Scott was very young, his mother had taken him to church. He still had an old Bible, though hardly used and quite dusty. He vagely remembered hearing somewhere that faith can help people though tough times. Scott didn't think he had any faith to give. But it was worth a try. Without thinking, he pulled it from the shelf and let it slide open anywhere, to no particular page. It opened to the book of Genesis.

Now Joseph was well built and good-looking. Soon after these things, his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Have sex with me."

But he refused, saying to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not give any thought to his household with me here, and everything that he owns he has put into my care. He has withheld nothing from me, except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil?"

Even though she continued to speak to Joseph day after day, he did not respond to her invitation to have sex with her.

One day he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants were there in the house. She grabbed him by his garment, saying, "Have sex with me!"

But he left his outer garment in her hand and ran outside. When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had run outside to escape.

She called for her household servants and said to them, "See, my husband brought in this boy to us to humiliate us. He tried to have sex with me, but I screamed loudly. When he heard me raise my voice and scream, he left his garment beside me and ran outside."

So she laid his outer garment beside her until his master came home. This is what she said to him: "That boy you brought to us tried to humiliate me, but when I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment and ran outside."

When his master heard his wife say, "This is the way your slave treated me," he became furious. Joseph's master took him and threw him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison."

Scott stopped reading, and noticed that the pages were wet. Oh, god. He'd been crying. He slammed the Bible shut and shoved it away from him. Even in those days, women were cruel and everyone believed them.

And then there was the judgment. More judgment. First of all, _he_ had given in to Elaine- he hadn't been strong the way Joseph was, resisting the woman in the story. Secondly, today he _had_ run away just the way Joseph had, hadn't he? But a lot of good it did him.

But if Scott had read on, he would have noticed the following scripture:

_But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness. He granted him favor in the sight of the prison warden.__ The warden put all the prisoners under Joseph's care. He was in charge of whatever they were doing. The warden did not concern himself with anything that was in Joseph's care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

AUTHORS NOTES: The passages came from . No copyright infringement is intended. Oh and I hope it isn't too preachy or anything, I just happened to find that story and see some parallels so I thought it might be interesting to have Scott find the story and read it.


	6. Chapter 6: Rescue Me

Chapter 6 of Home for the Holidays

AUTHORS NOTE: My attempt to credit the source of my Bible quote doesn't work. Maybe they don't let you put website links here? Ok so anyway, no copyright infringement intended on that and basically what I had could be from any Bible so hopefully it won't matter what site it was :-)

I won't get all religious on you, but I do want to bring up that Joseph story again at some point because I like the parallels between that and Scott's situation.

All right, now on to the next chapter…

Chapter 6- "Rescue Me"

"_And whoever is a cause of trouble to one of these little ones who have faith in Me, it would be better for him if a great stone was put round his neck and he was dropped into the sea." –-The words of Jesus, taken from the Book of Mark 9:38 _

"Scott, come down here," Martin yelled up the stairs.

Scott got up and opened his bedroom door. "What?" he yelled back.

"I said get down here. I have some news for you," Martin said excitedly.

Scott walked slowly down the stairs. "What?" he asked again, no emotion.

Nobody noticed he had been crying. Martin was standing with his arm around Elaine, and both looked absolutely elated.

"We need to tell you something," Martin said, "Come in here and sit down,"

They all went into the living room. Scott plopped down on an ottoman and they sat across from him on the couch, holding hands.

"Scott, Elaine and I love you very much," Martin said, getting emotional. "And we love each other, you know that." They squeezed each other's hands, and Scott's stomache turned.

" We have some exciting news. Elaine, do you want to…?" Martin looked questioningly at Elaine.

She shook her head. "No, I know you're excited to tell him. You go ahead."

"We're going to have a baby, Scott." Martin announced, tears in his eyes.

Scott didn't say anything at first. He was trying to decide how to react. Nothing seemed right, though. Finally he just said weakly, "That's great, dad."

Martin's grin erupted and he stood up, catching Scott in a hug. When he pulled away, Scott was shocked to see tears running down his father's cheeks.

Martin turned to Elaine, motioning for her to get up and join them. Martin hugged them both at the same time. "I'm so happy to have such a great family. We're going to be so happy, all of us. You, me, Scott, and the baby. Scott, it's going to be really fun for you to have a baby brother or sister. You just wait and see."

"Yeah, but…I mean, I won't be around much, with going back to school and all." Scott said. Martin's grip on him loosened.

"Well, actually Scott, Elaine and I were thinking you may not need to go back to Horizon. You're off drugs now, and that was most of the problem anyway, right? If we just continue counseling sessions once a week or so, and maybe some family therapy to work out your anger issues with the divorce-"

Scott pulled away. "But I want to go back."

Martin looked at him, confused. "Scott, it's not summer camp. If you don't need Horizon anymore, it would be better for you to go back to your old school and start football again, and get something lined up for college-"

Scott shook his head, "No. No, you…I have to go back. What, did you already decide? When did you decide this?"

Martin looked at Elaine, "We've just been talking it over. Nothing's definite yet."

"Well, good. 'Cause I'm going back. I have to. I-"

"Scott, calm down," Martin said, looking concerned. "We don't have to talk about this right now."

"Yes, we do. I want you to tell me you're not making me leave Horizon." Scott demanded.

Martin looked confused. He never understood his son anymore. "I don't know what to do right now, but I do know I don't want to discuss this. Can we just be happy about the baby? Please?" Martin was starting to get angry.

Scott pushed away from them. "No, we can't just be happy about the baby. I'll never feel happy about that stupid baby." He started for the door again.

"Scott-" Martin protested.

"Let him go, Martin," Elaine murmured.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Scott took off running, again, and this time he went to a friend's house. He hadn't seen Joel since he went to Horizon, but he figured Joel would still be the same old guy. He wasn't disappointed. Joel was in his basement, and his parents were out, God knew where. Joel was happy to see Scott, and the two of them quickly got back into their favorite pastime: drugs.

Scott loved being at Joel's house. His parent's were never home, and Joel always had what he needed to get high. Joel was a great friend.

After dark, Scott went home. He came inside and went straight for his room, but Martin caught up with him. "Where were you?" He demanded.

He got a whiff of Scott. "Out with those pot-smoking friends of yours?"

Scott laughed. "Does that convince you I need to go back to Horizon?"

Martin looked bewildered. "I don't get it, Scott. I just don't. It's like you _want _to have problems." He ran his hands through his hair. "Is that what this is? Does it make you feel special to have problems? Are you afraid the baby will take the attention off of you? Because I gotta say, that's pretty immature, Scott."

Scott didn't even answer that. He just stomped to his room and slammed the door shut. Then he put on some blaring music.

A couple of hours later, he turned down the music and heard something: his dad on the phone. He went over to the door to listen.

"I know, I know- but I thought you'd fixed him." Martin was saying. "Okay, I get that- no easy answers, right. But, you run the place and I thought you could make real progress with him."

There was a pause while the person on the other end said something, then Martin replied. "No…No, I wanted him here for Christmas. I guess if it gets too bad I'll call, but it's not too much longer till Christmas. I'll just try to hold out till then."

There was a pause, then Martin said, "Okay, thanks…bye."

It was Peter.

He'd been talking to Peter.

Scott remembered the wadded-up business card in his duffel bag. Maybe he should give Peter a call too. It might make him feel better.

But what could he say? Scott tried to imagine that conversation. _Well, Peter, I'm just feeling upset because my stepmom keeps touching me, and I've even had sex with her, and I know if my dad found out he'd kill me, in fact they just told me she's pregnant and I'm afraid the baby is mine, so that's got me a little worried too. Oh and by the way I'm pretty sure I'm going to hell because I looked in a Bible and they had this whole story about a guy like me and he pretty much did everything different than me. Tell me, what do you think I should do?_

Scott laughed out loud at that scenario.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Christmas came, and with it, peace. Scott somehow settled down, Elaine loosened her grip on him, and Martin relaxed. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were the best days at home that Scott had in a long time. But of course it couldn't last.

The day after Christmas, Scott started packing to go back to Mount Horizon, which he'd be doing later that day. A steady drizzle fell outside; they had been blessed with a white Christmas but the day after it started to pour. Martin came in sat down on the edge of Scott's bed.

"So can we talk about this now? This issue of you going back to Horizon?" Martin asked, trying to be gentle with him. Martin being gentle simply came out as awkward and rough.

Scott shoved a sweatshirt into his bag. "There's nothing to talk about. I'm not ready to come home permanently. I think you know that."

Martin paused, reflecting on that, and then said, "But you _could_ be, Scott. You have a choice in this. You have to make a choice about how you want to live your life. You have to be a man and be responsible for your own behavior. If you came home, I think you could do fine if you just remember that and start making better decisions and acting more responsibly."

Scott went to his dresser to get some more clothes out. "It's not that simple, Dad. You don't understand what we do there."

"What you _do_ there? Are we back to that summer camp mentality? You want to be in a place where you can go swimming and singing campfire songs all the time? You need to get back into the real world, Scott."

Scott was getting angry. "That's not what I meant. I meant that we get _through_ stuff there. We don't just shove everything under the rug the way we do at home."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Martin asked, sitting up straighter, with an angry look.

"I don't see how you _don't _know what it means." Scott muttered.

"When I ask you a question I expect a straight answer." Martin said, his voice rising.

"Well, forget it, then." Scott zipped up his duffel bag.

"I just, I just don't understand you, Scott." Martin said, frustrated.

"Whenever I bring up Elaine, you get mad at me." Scott said, changing the subject but feeling brave enough to mention it.

"That's because you don't give her a chance. You blame everything on her."

"Just the stuff that's her fault." Scott said lowly.

"Your mother and I getting divorced is _not_ Elaine's fault. That was going to happen whether I met Elaine or not."

"I don't mean the divorce."

"Well then what is it, Scott?"

Scott was silent.

Martin sighed as if he was giving up.

Then Scott yelled, "How can you expect me to talk to you about stuff when you won't let me say how I feel without criticizing me?"

"What are talking about?"

Scott shook his head, frustrated. "I can't talk to you, Dad. Whenever something's wrong, I can't- I can't come to you. You just, you just get mad, you yell, you- I-" Scott stopped, took a deep breath, and continued, "At Horizon, we work out our problems. We don't have to have secrets."

"Scott, if you feel like you have to keep secrets from me, that's not my fault. I have told you time and time again that if you need to talk about anything, you can come to me. You should know that." Martin said.

"Well, what you say and how you act are two different things." Scott said bitterly.

Martin stood up. "I'm not discussing this. If you have something you need to talk to me about, then say it. Right now, go ahead and say it."

Scott opened his mouth. Then he closed it. He fidgeted a minute. Then he said lowly, "I can't."

Martin looked almost triumphant. "See? Scott, you gotta stop blaming other people for your problems. Don't whine to me about how you can't talk to me when I clearly make myself available to you, and you refuse to talk to me."

This made Scott so angry that he stormed down the stairs and out the door again. This time he went straight over to Joel's house again.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

After being at Joel's, and then Joel's mother coming home to discover them smoking pot, and getting kicked out of Joel's basement, Scott wandered aimlessly through town until he found himself at the high school. He wandered onto the empty football field, not caring that an icy rain was pouring over him. It was nice being high, you didn't have to care how you felt when you were high.

But Scott didn't know what to do now. Maybe he'd call Peter. Maybe Peter would come get him. He knew it would take a while to drive there, but Peter getting him would be better than going home and being in the car with his dad to get there.

Scott dug around in his pocket for his cell phone and the crumpled business card.

The phone rang twice before Peter answered. "Peter Scarborough."

"Peter?" Scott said. Saying that one name made him start to cry.

"Scott?" Peter was worried. Scott's voice sounded broken, and far away, and there was rain and wind in the background.

"Yeah…could you come get me?" Scott asked, pointlessly wiping his wet face with his wet sleeve.

"You're coming back today, aren't you? That's the plan. Your dad's supposed to drive you back later today." Peter sounded confused, and worried.

"I know, but…" Scott looked around. He was standing in the middle of a football field in the pouring rain. He shivered. "But can't you come? Please?" He knew how pathetic he sounded, and he couldn't stop crying.

"Where are you Scott?" Peter asked, trying to figure out what had happened and if Scott was safe.

"I'm…at school."

"Here? What?"

"No…at my high school. In the football field."

"Outside? Is it raining? Go indoors, Scott. Why are you there?"

"I…" Scott didn't know what to say. And the drugs made it hard for him to stay focused.

"Peter, I'm really high," he said honestly, his voice breaking. "I'm sorry," he said, sobbing uncontrollably. Then he just kept repeating it. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm-"

He didn't know how many times he was up to before Peter cut him off, "Stop it, Scott. Is anyone with you?"

"No."

"Can you call your dad and have him pick you up?"

"No! That's why I called you." Scott cried harder.

"Okay, okay, well, you need to get indoors to a safe place till I can get there. It won't take me long. I actually had some business nearby, so I can make it there in about twenty minutes– maybe less if I'm lucky. Can you do something for me till then?"

"Uh-huh" Scott answered.

"Okay. I need you to go someplace safe until I get there. Do you have any…non-drug-related friends nearby?"

"Not really," Scott admitted.

"Scott, do you have any more drugs on you? Tell me the truth."

"No, I don't," Scott said.

"Do you have any weapons with you? Or anything you could hurt yourself with?" Peter asked.

"No, um, I don't think so." Scott answered, looking down.

"Okay, good." Peter let out a breath. "Good. Okay, you need to get inside, warm up, and wait for me. Keep out of danger till I can get to you. I'm going to have to call your dad and let him know where you are, though."

"No!" Scott yelled. "I'll…I'll run away again. I'll-"

"Okay, Scott, threats aren't going to work. Do you at least have someplace out of the rain to go?"

Scott looked over at the bleachers. "I guess."

Peter let out a breath. "Okay. Then just stay put until I get there. Once I'm in your town, I'll call you for directions to your school."

Once Peter was off the phone with Scott, he called Martin Barringer. He decided that from what Scott had said, he shouldn't let the man know where his son was. He knew Martin would be worried, but he was concerned about Scott's safety. Since they hadn't yet gotten to the root of Scott's problem, Peter didn't know how involved Martin was in the problem.

"Mr. Barringer, this is Peter Scarborough from Mount Horizon. I just wanted to let you know I'm in the area and I thought I could save you the trouble of driving all the way to the school and I could just pick Scott up myself. How does that sound?"

"Uh, well, Peter, Scott's- Scott's not home at moment…actually, he ran off earlier…I've called all his friends, I don't know where he is."

Peter said, "Mr. Barringer, we talked about this before…one of the conditions of Scott's home visit was that you'd let me know immediately if you had any problems with him."

"I know, I know, but…I didn't think it would get this bad. I thought he was just letting off some steam. But he hasn't come back, and I'm getting worried. It's raining pretty hard…I'm about to go out and drive around, see if I can find him."

"Okay, well, like I said, I have business near there, so why don't I come by and drive around too? Hopefully one of us will find him and….and then I can just drive him back to Horizon."

There was a pause, then Martin sighed. "Okay. Okay, that's fine. Thank you, Peter."

Peter felt bad about lying to Martin, but only just a little bit. As unprofessional as it might sound, there was something about Martin that Peter just didn't like.

Peter slid his phone back into his pocket and kept driving.

Scott, who was feeling dizzy from the drugs, stumbled around a few minutes before crawling under the bleachers. That didn't exactly keep the rain off him, but it was better than nothing. He had stopped crying at least. He huddled in a ball in the dark, cold rain under the bleachers, trying to fight off a wave of nausea, until his phone beeped. He picked it up.

"Peter?" he asked.

"Okay, buddy, where's the high school? What street is it on?"

"Seventh and Main. You go past the grocery…" Scott tried to think, but his head was buzzing. Somehow he managed to give the directions to Peter even though everything seemed all mixed up in his mind.

When Peter got there, he got out of the car and ran to the football field. He looked around frantically, then spotted Scott under the bleachers. That wasn't at all what he had meant when he told Scott to find a safe place to get in out of the rain.

He ran to him, and bent down and offered him his hand. "Scott, come on out now, let's go," he said.

Scott accepted his hand, and got up unsteadily, and tried to walk. He stumbled.

"Scott, have you been drinking too?" Peter asked.

Scott nodded painfully, a wash of nausea coming over him. He fell to the ground and vomited. But instead of getting back up when he was finished, he stayed on the ground, in the mud, in the rain, sobbing.

"I'm sorry I'm high! I'm sorry I drank! I'm sorry I do bad things.! I-" he shuddered and started sobbing. "I'm bad, I know-"

Peter knelt down next to him. "Scott, you're not _bad_. You just made some bad decisions. We can work through those. I'll help you."

"Did you call him? Did you call my dad?"

"I had to, kiddo."

"No! Where is he? I don't wanna go home, don't make me go, please-" Scott covered his face with his hands. The rain beat down around them.

"I'm taking you back to Horizon, don't worry. Your dad's out looking for you too. I'll take you in my car and we'll go get your stuff and say goodbye to your mom and dad and-"

"She's not my mom!"

"I meant your stepmom, I'm sorry." Peter put a hand on Scott's shaking shoulder. "We'll worry about everything else later, right now let's just concentrate on getting you to the car, okay?"

Scott shook his head. "She's not my mom," he repeated, whispering.

Peter tried to pull Scott up so he would start walking again. "Okay, she's not your mom. I get it. Scott, you're going to get sick, we need to get you inside. How long have you been out here in the rain?"

"I don't know…"

Scott's troubles all came out in a rush, and with fresh tears. To Peter, most of it didn't make any sense.

"I came here- after- my friend's mom kicked me out- cause of- well- I don't wanna go home- my dad and I had a fight- and my stepmom's pregnant- and Joseph ran away and I didn't- but then I did later and it didn't help anything- and I'm going to hell- and now I'm high and drunk and I'm sorry- and Joseph said no and I didn't- and I'm guilty- and if this baby's not my dad's it will all be my fault- and I let you down again 'cuz I used- and my dad hates me and I betrayed him…"

Scott last words were barely recognizable, he was crying so hard.

"Okay, Scott, it's okay," Peter soothed, stroking his hair. "Try to relax. You're going to be okay. You're safe with me. Let's go to my car, and we'll get you all dried off and take you back to Horizon. Does that sound good? "

There was a pause, then Scott snuffled and nodded.

Peter helped him back up, and supported him by putting an arm around him.

"Come on, buddy, let's go home."


	7. Chapter 7: Trust Has To Be Earned

Chapter 7 of Home for the Holidays

AUTHORS NOTE: Thank you Writergirl99 :-)

"TRUST HAS TO BE EARNED"

Scott sat, somewhat damp, in the back of Peter's car, letting his eyes go unfocused. They drove to Horizon.

He thought about what had happened just a few minutes ago, when Peter found him on the rain-soaked football field and took him home. Peter had gotten him into his car, and Scott was still sobbing, covering his face with his soaked sweatshirt. Peter drove to Scott's house, calling Martin on the way there to let him know he had found Scott. When they arrived, it took a moment before Scott would get out of the car. Peter was getting the feeling that he was the only person Scott felt safe with.

As he led him up the walk to his house, Martin opened the door, and Elaine could be seen behind him standing in the entryway. They both looked worried, but Martin looked more angry than worried. Peter couldn't help noticing Martin had Scott's bag waiting in the hallway to go.

As soon as Scott got in, Elaine fussed over him, saying, "Scott, honey, come upstairs and dry off. Poor thing, you're absolutely soaked, let's get you some clean clothes…." She said as she took his hand and led him away up the stairs. Scott didn't look at her, didn't focus his eyes, did not even seem to register that she was speaking to him. He just allowed himself to be pulled away as if in a trance.

When Scott was gone, Peter turned to Martin and said, "I don't think Scott should have any more visits for a while."

Surprisingly, Martin said, "I agree."

Peter's eyebrows went up. He thought that Martin would object and say that Horizon wasn't doing a good job and maybe he'd better bring Scott home.

Martin sighed. "I know that might come as a surprise. But my wife and I recently found out we're expecting, and we just can't have Scott around when he's like this. Elaine is sensitive as it is, and she worries so much about him. I don't think it would be good for her health if she has to keep dealing with Scott all the time."

Peter pursed his lips. "You're having a baby?"

"Yes," Martin smiled slightly. "It was a little unexpected, certainly not planned, but we're very happy."

"And Scott?" Peter inquired.

"Scott is…a teenager. He wants to be the center of attention. He's selfish. But I know he'll be happy about the baby later, when he's matured a little."

Scott was not the only one unhappy about the baby. Peter was pretty unhappy, too. Because a divorce, substance abuse, getting kicked off the football team, and a new school were not enough to deal with- he had to adjust to a new baby in the house now, too. Scott's life was crashing down around him. And it was Peter who was going to have to pick up the pieces.

A few minutes later, Scott and Elaine appeared again, coming down the stairs. Elaine walked behind him, keeping a hand on his shoulder. Scott had lost his trance-like expression but now he just stared down, avoiding everyone's eyes.

Peter thought Scott looked at though he had washed and gotten dressed in clean, dry clothes. His hair was still wet but it was drying, and he now had on a long sleeved light blue shirt, and a dark blue hoodie, and jeans. Peter noticed that although Scott looked clean and dry, he still did not look content.

Peter asked quietly, "Do you wanna say goodbye?" Not knowing what Scott wanted.

"Bye," Scott mumbled, not looking at either of them.

Martin said, "Scott…." But maybe he didn't know what else to say, either, so he just said, "Okay. Bye, son."

Elaine didn't say anything at all. She just leaned into Martin and took his hand, being a sympathetic wife.

Scott picked up his bag and Peter led him out.

Now they were sitting in the car, on their way to Horizon, Scott somewhat damp because he had left big pools of water in Peter's car. Peter kept his eyes on the road and didn't question him.

When they reached Horizon, Peter walked Scott back to his room. It was empty.

"Everyone else is out on a hike, so this place will be empty for a couple of hours."

"I wanna take a shower," Scott said sullenly.

"Didn't you shower back at your parent's house? It looked like you did," Peter said.

"So? I wanna shower again." Scott said, sounding annoyed.

"Well, I'm searching your bag and your body before you can do that," Peter warned him. "I need to make sure you're safe first."

"Just leave me alone, I don't have anything." Scott said, sounding sad.

"You know that's not an option. You were out using and drinking, Scott. You could easily have drugs on you right now, or even a weapon, and I'm not going to let you get the chance to use it."

"What, you don't trust me?" Scott asked.

"Trust has to be earned, Scott. You acted irresponsibly out there today, and now I have to be careful with you."

Scott slumped down on the floor next to his bed. "Fine." He accepted after a moment.

Peter came over and set his bag down beside him. "I'll go through this first. Do you have anything you want to tell me before I start going through it?"

"No, 'cuz there's nothing in there," Scott said.

"I hope not," Peter said. "Because I want to believe you."

Peter began going through Scott's things, taking out each item one by one and examining it before laying it on the bed.

"So what happened out there today?" Peter asked after he'd looked at several things.

"Nothing." Scott said. God, he was so tired of it. He let his head roll back against the bed.

"Your dad told me the news. About the baby."

"Oh."

"Seems that's what set you off, huh?"

"I don't care."

"Then why did you need to use? You've gone a good long time without it, Scott."

Scott was silent.

"You know, it's normal for an older sibling to feel some resentment and even jealousy toward a new baby-" Peter began.

"I'm not jealous!" Scott yelled.

"Okay, okay, I'm just saying." Peter said. "It would be natural to feel that way. If you did. But you don't. So, whatever."

Scott said quietly, "If they have this baby-"

"If?" Peter interrupted.

"Yeah, if. Elaine said she might have an abortion."

Peter raised his eyebrows. "Scott, your dad and Elaine seem very excited about the baby. What gave you the idea they were going to have an abortion?"

"She told me she was scared to have a baby, and if she didn't' tell my dad about it then she could just have an abortion and-" Scott stopped. He was just realizing two things. First, Peter was right, Elaine would never have an abortion now that his dad knew about the baby, obviously she had already decided to keep it and there was no alternative. Secondly, he had, without realizing it, just told Peter that Elaine confided the news about the baby to him before she had even told his dad. Scott knew why she would do that, but Peter wouldn't. To Peter, it would sound odd. Scott hoped Peter would just not notice and move on. But of course he didn't.

"She told you about the baby before she told your dad?" Peter asked.

Scott nodded slowly, trying to come up with a reason why she would do that.

"That's kind of strange she did that, it seems like your dad should have been the first to be told. Why do you think she told you first?" Peter asked.

"I don't know, I don't know what goes on in that sick bitches head!" Scott said angrily.

Peter looked up in surprise and stared at him.

Scott had gotten so angry in an instant, but it was because he was sick of lying for Elaine. Of course Peter didn't know that was why he got so angry.

"Ok, Scott, calm down. I'm done searching your belongings, I'll search you now and then you can go take your shower and get ready for bed. Okay?"

"Whatever." Scott said.

----- ---- ---- ------ ---- ----

A little while later Scott stepped into the shower and let the hot water run over him, scalding him. He waited a little while before he started washing. He just wanted to soak in the hot water for a minute and try to forget everything that was happening, most of all, forget that his stepmother might be pregnant with his child.

After a few minutes he started washing. Scrubbing, really, because he tended to scrub whenever he wanted to get _her_ off of him.

After Peter had taken him home, Elaine had taken him upstairs to dry off and change his clothes, and even though she didn't actually do much compared to other times they'd been alone, Scott still felt completely violated. She'd wanted his shirt and pants for the dryer, and then she had gotten a towel and dried his upper body with it, talking softly to him while she rubbed the towel over his arms, shoulders, back, and chest, although he had no idea what she was saying to him because he was purposefully tuning her out. He just stared off into space till she snapped him back into reality by saying, "Come on, Scott, time to go."

Even though she hadn't really done anything to him then, he still felt completely dirty and worthless after being touched at all by her. He leaned toward the faucet and let the hot water hit him in the face.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am sorry that absolutely nothing happened in this chapter. I was just bored and it was raining so I wrote it as something to do. Hopefully I will think of something better next time. lol


	8. Chapter 8: At A Loss

Chapter 8 of Home for the Holidays

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just found another version of Chapter 7 on my computer- So apparently I wrote 2 of them. You got the second version. The first one I liked better but the second one fits better with the story anyway.

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CHAPTER 8- "AT A LOSS"

Scott pretended he was asleep when his roommates came in. He didn't feel like talking to anyone tonight. Auggie came up and poked him in the shoulder, saying "Hey, meat, you awake?" but Scott didn't stir. Auggie went to bed.

The next morning Scott went to breakfast with everyone else and they all had pancakes. Scott hardly tasted his.

When Scott first came to Horizon, he was angry and had all kinds of issues. But during the weeks he was here, he had felt like he was…getting better. And now it was like he was starting all over again. It was too hard. Life was too hard. Maybe…

"Hey, man, where are you going?" Auggie asked Scott as he got up from the table.

"I need to talk to Peter." Scott said as he shoved in his chair and walked away.

--- ---- ---

Peter's door was open, and Scott took a deep breath and walked right in.

Peter looked up.

"I need to talk to you," Scott said.

Peter nodded, "Come on in and have a seat. Close the door if you want." Peter put his work aside and watched as Scott shut the door and sat down awkwardly. Scott didn't look at Peter as he started.

"I need to talk to you." He said, unsure.

Peter nodded. "You said that. What would you like to talk about?"

Scott breathed evenly, concentrating on his breathing for a second.

"I don't wanna go home again." Scott said.

"You don't have to, at least for a while." Peter said. "Your father wants you to stay here."

"What about Elaine?" Scott asked immediately.

"What about her?" Peter asked.

"What does she want?" Scott asked. "Is she gonna let me stay?"

"Well, I assume she wants the same thing as your dad, he said you were staying, so I assume that was what they both wanted."

"But did she _say_ she wanted me to stay?" Scott asked, seeming worried.

"No, I never heard her say that. Your dad told me. But-"

Scott interrupted him, "If she calls here, or if she comes to get me, I don't have to go with her, do I?" he asked, "Or if she gets my dad to change his mind?"

"Well, Scott, yes, if they end up wanting you to come home, I have to let them take you, they're your parents, legally they have rights to you-"

Scott interrupted again. "I don't want to leave, I want to stay here. Don't I get any say in this?" He seemed upset.

"Scott, why don't you want to go home? Can you tell me that?" Peter asked gently.

"I just…It's just… I can't-" Scott struggled helplessly.

Peter interrupted, trying a different tact. "Okay how 'bout we try this a different way. Why don't you tell me why you want to stay _here_." Peter suggested.

Scott answered, "I'm happier here. I know what's going to happen when I'm here. I know what's expected. And…"

"Go on," Peter said softly.

"It's safer here." He said simply.

"What makes it safer?" Peter asked.

"I don't feel like I have to get high all the time when I'm here," Scott said quietly. "At home I felt like I had to get high _every singly day_."

"Where was all this stress coming from?" Peter wanted to know.

Scott's mind flashed back to the first storm. "Scotty, the storm woke me up…I'm scared, can I stay in here for a little while?" The voice echoed in his memory.

Peter leaned forward. "Scott, you don't have to talk. But you chose to come talk to me because something was bothering you. I think you would feel a lot better if you went ahead and told me what it was. I'm pretty good at helping people fix things. Maybe I can help you fix this."

Scott shook his head and said sadly, "It's too late." In his mind, Elaine slid under the covers and snuggled against him. As Scott scooted away from her in the bed, he, without realizing it, scooted to the other side of his chair in Peter's office.

Peter went on, "I've told you before, it's never too late. We can make this better." He paused, waiting for Scott to go on. "Can you tell me, Scott? Can you do that for me?"

Scott took a deep breath. His mind flashed forward to when Elaine laid down her rules for him. "You'd going to have to do some things for me", she said. "First, obviously, no one can know about what we've done. It has to be our secret. You can't tell _anyone_, Scott."

Scott shook with disgust at himself. "Never mind, I'm sorry, I can't do it."

He got up and walked quickly out the door.

Peter sighed. Sometimes even he was at a loss to know what to do.

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End file.
